Once home to a great ancient empire and now a cutting-edge and progressive modern capital, Mexico City has been one of the Americas’ mightiest metropolises since its inception.
In a city so vast and packed with heaving markets, colossal museums, and a never-ending amount of neighborhoods, you can easily become overstimulated and overwhelmed. If you’re a soon-to-be first-timer in the Mexican capital, these 10 suggestions are the starting points you need to kickstart your stay.
1. Explore Frida Kahlo’s Intimate Inner World at Casa Azul
Casa Azul is the home where artist Frida Kahlo was born and lived most of her adult life. Located in the Coyoacán neighborhood, this iconic tourist haunt is an important pilgrimage for any art lover wanting to immerse themselves in Kahlo’s life and legacy.
The cobalt-blue building is a treasure trove of her self-portraits, family photographs, and personal artifacts, such as her traditional Mexican wardrobe and pre-Columbian relics she lovingly collected.
Much of her life was marked by tragedy and suffering, evident from the crutches, medicines, and the four-poster bed she was confined to for many months following an accident. These elements are what make Casa Azul so poignant.
2. Get Rowdy at a Lucha Libre Match
There are various stadiums where you can attend lucha libre (Mexican wrestling) fight nights, including Arena Coliseo (“the cathedral of lucha libre”), Arena México, and Arena Naucalpan to the northwest of the city.
Once you take a seat, grab a giant plastic cup of cheap beer and a bag of potato chips from the sellers that weave in and out of the packed stands. Watch in amused awe as the masked luchadores (wrestlers) carry out acrobatic flips, kicks, and belly-flops. The local crowds get very invested in the performed fighting and their passion is infectious.
Planning tip: The stadiums’ neighborhoods can be dodgy at night, so make a swift exit once you leave the arena while crowds are still milling around.
3. Lose Yourself Among the Bookshelves of Mexico City’s Libraries
Beyond the books and archives, Mexico’s libraries are architectural marvels in their own right. Biblioteca Vasconcelos, considered one of the world’s most beautiful libraries, is an industrial yet ethereal goliath of glass walls, towering steel bookshelves, and futuristic floating walkways.
The UNAM Central Library is a looming 10-floor tower block completely embellished with colorful stone tiles. Circle the exterior, which serves as a canvas for an immense mural, each side telling the story of Mexico’s pre-Columbian, colonial, revolutionary past, as well as its contemporary present.
4. Taste Your Way Around the City on a Food Tour
Mexico City is a culinary colossus on the international food scene, so it is easy to get overwhelmed by the seemingly inexhaustible street stands and upscale restaurants. Likewise, there are so many local delicacies with unusual names that even a Spanish speaker might struggle to decipher a menu.
This is why joining a food tour is beneficial for your gastronomic awakening in the city. Experienced guides take you to emerging culinary destinations and help navigate the city’s flea and farmers’ markets one taco at a time.
5. Spirituality at Sonora Market
Journey to the back left corner of Mercado de Sonora and discover a world of santería and shamanism, where you will find a plethora of herbal concoctions and plants to cure all manner of ailments. For adventurous travelers, ask around about getting a limpia (spiritual cleanse).
Beyond lotions and potions, the goods sold here represent the diverse faiths practiced in the city. Catholic crucifixes and Judas effigies, voodoo dolls, and cowrie shells used in Afro-Caribbean rituals sit alongside skulls and skeletons connected to Santa Muerte, Mexico’s saint of death.
Planning tip: Mexico does not have a big haggling culture, so, as a rule of thumb, pay the suggested price, especially when it comes to religious items.
6. Step into Mexico City’s Cinematic Scenes
Mexico City is a bastion of global cinema, with many films shot in the city, from foreign to domestic. In fact, Baz Luhrmann’s classic Romeo and Juliet was predominantly filmed in Mexico City.
Hike to the castle atop Chapultepec Park’s hill, depicted as the Capulet family’s mansion. Iglesia del Purísimo Corazón de María in Colonia del Valle was the church featured in some of the film’s most recognizable scenes.
Additionally, who could forget the James Bond movie Spectre, which highlighted a Day of the Dead Parade set in Mexico City? Fun fact, the massive outdoor celebration wasn’t a thing until after 2016; Día de Los Muertos always existed but was celebrated more intimately.
7. Glide Along the Canals of Xochimilco
Around 22 km south of the city lies Xochimilco, a former freshwater lake transformed into a vast canal network by the Aztecs. The area consists of chinampas, floating farm islands that used to sustain the civilization that later became Mexico City.
However, Xochimilco is renowned for its weekend boat parties, where locals and visitors celebrate in multi-colored trajinera rafts, enjoying pulque (fermented agave wine) and dancing to mariachis.
Planning tip: Opt for a more sustainable way of appreciating Xochimilco by going for a sunrise tour, which also includes farm-to-table breakfasts prepared with ingredients grown on the remaining active chinampas.
8. Smell the Roses at Jamaica Market
Although this market offers a wide range of products, it specializes in flowers. Upon entering the city’s biggest flower market, you’ll be bombarded by gigantic bouquets of roses and sunflowers intricately crafted by vendors.
There are 5,000 species available, with elaborate arrangements for every occasion, from Day of the Dead ofrendas (altars) to wedding bouquets.
Detour: Depart from the flower section of the market and head to a gourmet yet laid-back open kitchen for experimental seafood dishes. Don’t miss trying the tacos de pulpo al pastor (marinated octopus tacos).
9. Float Over the Ancient Teotihuacán Pyramids
After exploring the ultra-modern Mexico City, take a step back in time to Teotihuacán, once the largest urban center in the Americas. This Mesoamerican civilization mysteriously declined by the 8th century, leaving an abandoned site steeped in intrigue.
Wander down the Avenue of the Dead, the main thoroughfare of the ancient city, until reaching the Pyramid of the Sun, the third-largest pyramid in the world. For a breathtaking view, take to the skies in a hot air balloon.
Planning tip: Go to gate eight at the North Bus Station to purchase a bus ticket to the site, located about an hour north of the city.
10. Immerse Yourself in Mexico’s Indigenous History at the Anthropology Museum
To understand Mexico, delve into its pre-Columbian past at the capital’s Museo Nacional de Antropología. This must-see site is so vast (think 600,000 artifacts across 23 rooms) that you could spend days exploring, so focus on a specific section or two.
Head to the Aztec Hall to see the iconic Aztec sunstone or the giant boulder heads in Olmec Hall.
Planning tip: The museum is free on Sundays and closed on Mondays.
